


we count the years

by DragonEyez



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Other, Post-Miracle of the Mirage, the ot4 is background/implied tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 14:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13615158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonEyez/pseuds/DragonEyez
Summary: on the world without end, echo and grand meet again for the first time





	we count the years

**Author's Note:**

> title from [old lovers in dressing rooms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjRes28UfFs) by keaton henson
> 
> wasn't planning on the gekkos being my first fic in the fandom but sometimes thats how it be. maayan and i have been Up In Our Feelings about TM recently so this happened

Echo stared Grand Magnificent down as he stood there awkwardly after everyone else had left the common room. That was interesting. Grand had always been an awkward person just due to the fact that he was a pretentious douchebag who didn’t know how to talk or act around other people, but this was a different kind of awkwardness. Almost like it had been learned over the course of, well, however long it had been for him. Time was weird and long everywhere now, Echo knew that better than most people. They cleared their throat and cocked an eyebrow.

“Scruffy is a good look for you Grand.” They raised a hand to run their fingers over his jaw, searching his face for permission. He raised his chin a little, giving Echo a better angle, and they felt the alien roughness. 

“Yeah well, y’know, when you’re shipping stuff all over the Quire system, you don’t really have time to keep up with appearances. Didn’t really want to for a while, either. But speaking of new looks, the hair looks good.”

He pulled a hand out of his pocket but stopped himself, leaning his head to the side slightly like he didn’t know how to ask. 

“Go ahead.”

He trailed his fingers through the much shorter ends of their hair in awe. It was almost tender in a way. Eventually, he raised his hand higher, carding through all of it, pushing one side of it behind their ear before raising a thumb to the eyepatch. 

“You look like a badass pirate now. What’s the deal with the patch?”

They flipped it up with their other hand before responding. “It’s connected to the Mesh, so I can see it now. Pretty handy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

There was a lull, neither of them quite knowing what to say, connected as much by the silence as by their hands. They realized, absently, that they had forgotten that Grand was just a little bit taller than them. Unconsciously, they shifted onto the balls of their feet, raising up a little to account for the distance.

“Echo-” “Grand-”

Grand flushed and dipped his head a little. “Sorry, you first.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t find you, Grand. I looked, I did, but I couldn’t-”

“Hey, hey.” Grand cupped the side of Echo’s face, running a thumb across their cheekbone comfortingly. Echo leaned into it, secretly relishing the contact. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t want to be found. After all that shit with Independence I couldn’t- I looked into its face and it offered me, well, guess it doesn’t matter now.” He laughed wryly. “But the important thing was that I _blinked_ , and there was no way I could be around any of you after that. I didn’t _deserve_ to be around any of you. So I hid. That was my choice. Nothing anyone could’ve done would’ve changed that.”

“That’s bullshit, Grand. You didn’t have to just-” They made a noise of frustration and pulled Grand down to them by the back of the neck, smashing their mouths together uncomfortably. It took some adjusting, the angle was all wrong and they were both out of practice. There was painful clacking of teeth and some bumping of chins and noses at first, but they eventually fell into a rhythm.

It was alien and familiar all at once. The scrape of facial hair against their face took some adjusting to, but they could recall all the points that would make Grand sigh into their mouth or grip their hair tighter. When they broke apart, Echo leaned their head against his chest, feeling his heart pounding.

"We missed you, asshole."

"Oh?"

"...I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Next time you have a problem, let us help you instead of just running off to who the fuck knows where."

Grand laughed at that, and Echo could feel the rumble of it beneath them. "Okay okay. I promise. I did learn some stuff though, wasn't all bad."

"Like what?"

"I can throw a punch now. Can take them too. I guess you could call me a regular brawler now."

Echo pulled back at that and laughed, surprised. They flipped the eyepatch back down and patted Grand on the arm. "Well, come on Rock 'Em Sock 'Em, let's go catch up with Gig and Even. Plus, we might have to stop Gig from turning the pool room into a _pool_ room."

"Alright. And hey, I really do like the hair."

"It is pretty great isn't it." They walked side by side down the narrow corridor of the ship, fingers just brushing together.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome down below, and i can be found [here](https://theunacceptablepylades.tumblr.com/) or yelling about f@tt @QueerlyDeparted on twitter


End file.
